On June 27, 2008, the University of Delaware and Xiamen University officially established the Joint Institute for Coastal Research and Management, a world-class global collaborative research initiative.

The institute’s logo is composed of water drops—the fundamental components of the oceans. In Chinese, there is a saying that "water drops can penetrate the rocks." This embodies the spirit we would like to have in our joint efforts for ocean science.

A joint research article “Strong Southward Transport Events due to Typhoons in the Taiwan Strait”, written jointly by Drs. Wen-Zhou Zhang, Huasheng Hong, and Shaoping Shang from COE/XMU, and Xiao-Hai Yan from CEOE/UD is published in Journal of Geophysical Research on November 11, 2009.

Prof. Biliana Cicin-Sain attended the Xiamen World Ocean Week (WOW 2008) conference held on November 7-13, 2008 in China, and she gave a talk on “Advancing the Global Oceans Agenda to 2016” at the Chief forum of WOW. Prof.

Invited by Dr. Nancy Targett, Dean of the College of Marine and Earth Studies / University of Delaware (CMES/UD), and Dr. Kuo-Chuin Wong, Professor of CMES, delegates from College of Oceanography and Environmental Science / Xiamen University (COE/XMU)